Method of treating sewage.



. JBMJBNTEDA AUG. 4, 1908,

G. o. E. BBDDOBS.

' METHOD o? TRBATNG SEWAGE.

APPLICATION FILED IAR.30.1908.

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anwnl'ov CECIL C. E. BEDDOES, OF \\".\LLI.\`GI `ORD. PENNSYLVANIA.

BTETHOD OF TREATINGA SEWAGE. l A

Specification of Letters Patent. application fiiea March 3o, 190e. serial Nu. azfiiiiio.V

Patented. Aug. 4, 1908.

T o all whom 'it may concern:

Be it hnown that I, CECIL C. E. BEDiioEs,

a resident of Wallingford Delaware count Y State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Improvement in Methods of Treating Sewage, of which the following is a specification.

In those methods of treating sewage in which it is subjected to the action of bac I teria, it is necessary that large quantities of air should be supplied to provide the oxygen necessary to su `port the bacterial life, whether it be in tile sewage itself or in a. bed or receiver to which the sewage is delivered,

and in which it is subjected to the. bacterial action. As the micro-organisms to which the oxygen must be supplied aie widely distributed the oxygen cannot be conveniently supplied b v merel r exposing the surface of a contact bed to the atmosphere. To obtain satisfactory bacterial action the oxygen must be supplied in abundance below the upper surface in those strata in which the bacteria exist. The most convenient manner, therefore, of sup )lying this oxygen is to introduce it into the ottoni of the bed with the sewage, but heretofore difliculty has been experienced in economically supplying the oxygen sufficiently abundantly in this manner.

It is the object of in invent-ion to )reduce such a combination o the air with tie sewage that a sullicient volume of air will be absorbed and retained by'the sewage until delivery to the bed to supply the oxygen required to properly sustain the bacteria. This result I accomplish by subjectingr the sewage and air to pressure at the same time, and, as the amount of air absorbed is pro ortional to the pressure, it follows that the a sor )tion of the required amount of air may be o tained by increasing to the requisite degree the pressure acting at the same time on the air and sewage. To obtain this result in the most eflicient and simple manner I introduce'the air into a moving column of sewage. As the pressure in this column increases in pioportion to its depth, 0r the height oi' the column, the pressure on the air which is drawn in and carried with the sewage is correspondingly increased, so that the volume of air absorbed will be proportional to the height of the column of sewage. The sewage when thus aerated to the desired degree is discharged through a suitable conduit into the cohtaet bed. As the. pressure at the bed is atmospheric, the absorbed air will be released and wili supplyr its oxygen to the bacteria. I

also propose in some cases, to extract unabsoibed or free air from the lower portion of the descending column, and to reintroduce it in the form of fine particles in the upper part of the descending column. The sewage.- which is thus treated by the addition of air( under pressure for the purpose of increasing the bacterial actionlis sewage which has to some extent undergone fermentation and has become a liquid containing organic matter in solution or suspension which has beensubjectcd to liydrolytic action.

In the drawings; Figure 1 is a plan View of a form of apparatus adapted for carrying out my process of treating sewage, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with portions in vertical section.

a is the pipe or conduit through which the sewage passes while it is being aerated, and b is the pipe or conduit through which the same is discharged after aeration. These pipes or conduits a and b are arranged in a vertical or upright position and communi- `cate at the bottom, so that the sewage cntering the pipe a at thc top will flow downward and pass at the bottoni into the pipe b and then flow upward to the point of discharve.

In the particular construction shown t ie pipe c extends down through the surrounding pipe b.

c c are the air nozzles which enter the pipe or conduit a and supply air to the moving column of sewage therein. 'lhcse nozzles open into the pi )e a at or near the top and thus introduce air into the top ofthe column of moving sewage. At this moment both the air and sewage are at atmospheric pressure, but as the sewage flows down the pipe or conduit a its pressure increases,-t.he 95 pressure at any point bein,r pre ortional t0 the height of the column of li uit abovesucli point,-and the pressure of tl ie air which is drawn in with the moving column of sewage is correspondingly increased so tliat'the sew- 100 age and air in the conduit a are subjected to gradually and proportionally increasing pressures as thev descend. According to the well known law that the amount of gas absorbed by liquid varies directly as the pressure, it follows that the air will be absorbed in increasing quantity by the column of sewage in the conduit af, andthat the sewage passing from the conduit a into the conduit b will contain an amount of air proportional 110 to the height of the column in the conduit a.

In the drawings I have shown the conduitA i a receiving sewage from a suitable tank d through a branch e supplied through a liquid sealed siphon'f; the conduit bis shown as a pipe surrounding the pipeaand discharging at lthe top through a branch g into the base of a contact bed h. In this ap lication of the invention sewage from the tan d flows through the siphon f and branch e into the conduit or pipe a' and drawing in the air through the iiozzlcc carries the air down with it through the pipe a, subjecting it to increasing pressure and etiectinv the increased absorption in the manner described. On reaching the end of the pipe a, the sewage thus. thoroughly aerated rises through the pipe b and is discharged through the outlet g below the upper surface of the bed.` As the sewage rises in the pipe or conduit b there is of course a reduction of pressure and a tendency to release the air that has been absorbed by the sewa e during its descent through the conduit a; t e u ward passage of the sewage through the con uit b to therbed is too rapid to permit any material quantity of the airto be freed, so that the sewage at the moment of discharge into `the filter bed contains approximately the whole duantity of aiil that was absorbed during its escent through the pipe a as well as the free unabsorbed air carried in by the liquid. The increased quantity of air that is thus su plied to the iiltei bed with the sewage aids bacterial action by furnishing more abundantly the desired oity` gen to the bacteria, whether they are in the sewage itself or in the material of the bed or receiver to which the sewage is delivered.

As all of the air drawn in with the sewage may not be absorbed when the sewage passes from the conduit a to the conduit b, it is desirable that the surplus unabsorbed air should be extracted from the conduit and reintroduced again into the moving column; for this urpose I have rovided the end Aot the con uit or pi e a wit i an enlargement or bell i through w iich the sewage passes before entering the ascending conduit b. From this bell or enlargement one or more air pipes lead up and reenter the conduit a at a igher oint. Thus the free air which is released in the bell t may pass up through the pipe and be reintroduced at a higher point into the moving column ofvsewage in the conduit a.

What I claim as new is as follows:

1. The hereindescribed process of treating sewage for the purpose of supplying the same with oxygen to support bacteria which consists in supplying air or gas to the sewage and subjecting the sewage and air or gas to pressure at .the saine time.

2.' The hereindescribed process of treating sewage for the purpose of. supplying the saine with oxygen to support bacteria, which consists in supplying air or gas to the sewage and subjecting the sewage and air-or gas to pressure at the saine time and then subjectlng the sewage so treated to bacterial action.

3. The hereiridescribed process of treatingv sewage for the purpose of supplying the saine with oxygen to support bacteria,- which consists in supplying' air or gas to the sewage and subjecting the sewage 'and air or gas at the saine time to increasing pressures.

f4. The hereindcscribed process of treating sewage for the pui-pose of su pplying the saine. with oxygen to support bacteria., which con sistsin supplyingair or gas to 'the sewage and subjecting the sewage and air or gas at the saine tii'ne to proportionally increasing v pressures.

5. The hereindescribed process of treating sewage, which consists in supplying the same with oxygen to support vbacteria by supplying air or gas to the sewage, subjecting a mov.- ing body of sewage and air or gas to pressure at the` same time and then subjecting the sewage so treated to bacterial action in a state of rest.

6. The hcieindescribcd process of treating sewage, which consists iii supplying the saine with oxygen to support bacteria bysupplyiiig air or gas to the sewage, subjecting a moving body of sewage and air or gas to pressure at.

thev same time, then relieving the pressure and subjecting the sewage to bacterial action in a state of rest.

7. The liereindescribed process of treating sewage for the purpose of supplying the saine with oxygen to support bacteria, which consists in introducing air into a moving column of. sewage in a closed conduit and therebyl increasing the pressure :ind quantity of air absorbed in proportion to the heightof the column of sewage through which the air is carried.

8. The hcreindescribed process of treating sewage for the purpose of supplying the saine with oxygen to su port bacteria, which con sists in causing tie sewage to flow downward in a column through a closed conduit, introducing air or gas into the upper part of said moving column and thereby causing` the air or gas to be drawn down with' said moving sewage .and to be absorbed thereby by the increase in pressure proportionally to the extent of downward movement, and finally 'discharging the column of sewage with the air or gasupward through a closed conduit.

9. The hcreindescribed process of treating sewage for the purpose of supplying the saine with oxygen to su port bacteria. which consists in causing tie seuage iiow downward in a column through a ciozzed conduit, introducing air or gas into thc upper part of said moving column thereby causing the air orgas to be drawn down witi. said moving sewage and to be absorbed thereby by the increase in pressure propel-tional to the ex. tent of downward moveirent, conducting o' the excess of unabsorbec'l air from the lower ioo l WMe.

l A A part of vthe column of moving,Y sewage and sewage and to he absorbed thereby' by the i rexntroduclng 1t Into Saud lnovmg column at lncrease 1n pressure proportlonnlly to the ex- 1: a lugher pomt und hnally (hsehargmg the l tent 0f d0\yvnward movement, and finally disg Column of sew-nge '.vlth the nu' or gas upward l charglng the column of sewage with the au' 5 through a closed eondult. or gas Into n bed and below the upper surface Eg 10. The herenulescfrlbed rocess of treatthereof and sub octmf the same to bacterlal v h mg sewage for the purpose of supplymg-the aetlon whlle 1n sald hed. 2( same wlth oxygen to support baeterln, whlch In testnnony of whlch xnventlon, I have conslsts 1n causmg the sewage to flow downhereunto set my hand.

'-' 1o ward nl n column through a closed condult, CIS-CIL C. E. BEDDOES.

.1 xntroduemg zur or gus 1nt0 the upper part of I Wltnessest L sau] movmg column :md thereby eausmg the .A'LBRRT PRIEs-FMAN,

i' same to be drawn down with sind movmg ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER. 

